What's missing from this thread is how you ride. I travel on the bike, meaning I tend to ride all day when I go for a ride. I have started doing more 'day rides' that are shorter and slower with more off pavement riding over the last couple of years, but before that I rarely got on the bike to ride less than 300 miles. I'm a LD rider too, so over the last 12 years a lot of my riding was done managing my stopped time very closely. I didn't stop for much and it wasn't uncommon for me to ride 500 miles at a time w/o putting a foot down. With 11 gallons of fuel and a gallon of water on board, food in the tank bag, etc, this was not difficult. Clearly my needs were/are not the needs of the average rider.
So Jackets - When you ride like I do, a rain liner or over suit means you have to stop to put it on, or live with it when conditions change. That's unacceptable for a jacket. This narrows the field quite a bit. So for the jacket this meant a Goretex product that was waterproof and breathable. Some very good jackets with Goretex are labeled water resistant not water proof because of the stitching methods and other relatively minor design aspects that Gore simply won't allow them to call the product water proof. Remember that Gore guarantees their products as well as any coverage by the manufacturer of the product. I did not rule these out, understanding the issues.
I wore an Aerostich Darien for ~160k miles and up until the end, it kept me dry and protected me well during a get off at ~35 mph. (Aerostich a.k.a. Rider Warehouse actually repairs their gear, and I had my Darien repaired and continued to wear it for years after the get off.) Venting is good and I could open or close the vents, (except the back vent), while riding, which for me was a bonus in not having to stop and still being able to manage my air flow and just zip up for a shower, then un-zip after the rain stopped w/o having to stop. The Darien has improved since I bought mine, with a nicer collar and a few additional features bringing it slightly more into the modern era. There is also a Darien Light now, though that is aimed more at commuters. I have not compared the two. The two piece Roadcrafter that can be zipped together like a one piece suit is another option for someone not looking at one piece suits.
In 2011 I discovered I had been drawn for the Iron Butt Rally, and 11 day endurance rally. Having recently sold my rally prepped FJR and buying the Super Ten, to my chagrin, I needed to re-think my set up for the Super Ten and reconsider my gear in light of preparing for the '13 IBR. The Darien had started to leak at the main zipper, which could be replaced and upgraded to a waterproof zipper as well as additional velcro on the storm flap if I wanted, but I decided to try the Klim Latitude Misano instead as Klim was gaining a pretty good reputation at the time.
I've now worn the Klim for ~100k or so. It keeps me dry and vents reasonably well. It is very similar in cut and features to the Aerostich Darien I moved from. I like a 3/4 jacket, so this was appealing to me. For how I ride and my needs, the Klim is ok, but there are some annoyances. Klim refuses to do any modifications to the jacket, (and yes, I've called customer service a few times. Some of my friends claim they got modifications from Klim in the past, but I have been repeatedly told a resounding NO when I asked.) Klim does not repair their gear either. Thankfully, I have not had any get offs at speed with the Klim, so not needed any repairs.
I don't care for the mesh in the vents on the Klim Latitude or the smaller fussy zippers. It makes it much more difficult to zip and to a lesser degree, un-zip while riding. It has two additional vents that my Darien did not have on the arms, but the need to stop to change my venting is annoying after not needing to do this in the past.
The Latitude Misano I have does not have any collar flap securing snaps. (This was something I asked to add and was refused on. Despite other jackets having this feature.) I added a stick on piece of velcro 'hook' side on the left to stick that side down, but the right side flaps in the wind and is sometimes annoying. I ride with my collar open most of the time and this was an annoyance on the Darien as well, the new Dariens are available with magnets in the collar to secure them so they don't flap when riding with the collar open. Klim's other jackets, notably the Badlands Pro, (a big step up in price), and the women's Altitude both have collar securing features for riding with the collar open.
The Latitude Misano had patch pockets on the front, one upper chest and two cargo down low. None of these are waterproof. Seems stupid to advertise Goretex and not make the pockets waterproof. I lost a camera to water on day one of the IBR due to this issue. (back up camera finished the rally and now I have a waterproof camera.) I see the current design Latitude is essentially the Misano with changes. I do see that they changed the pockets and the pocket diagram on Revzilla doesn't match the actual pockets shown on the jacket. I note that they only refer to the one chest pocket as waterproof, so plan on anything in the other pockets getting wet in rain rides, despite their stay dry guarantee and the use of Goretex.
The Klim sleeve pocket is intended for ID or Medical info. The Klim sleeve pocket on my jacket is significantly smaller than the one on my Aerostich Darien. I keep a photo ID, my national park pass and a credit card there for gas stops. This means I don't have to take a glove off for a gas stop, (or when entering a National Park, (we have 5 close by)). Probably not a requirement for most riders, but something I like. The Darien's larger sleeve pocket was easy, the Latitude's smaller pocket means I have to sort of work out the card holder, rather than just reach in and take it out. It's difficult with rain gloves on, but I have learned to deal with it.
The Darien was un-lined. This was good and bad. Less bulk, but the inside of the shell did wear over time which impacted the Goretex membrane. I did not find this to be at spots that were leakage issues, but some have. The Latitude lining is a light mesh, which mostly is comfortable, except in high humidity with just a T-shirt when I didn't care for the way the sleeve lining clings to the skin. I often wear a long sleeve LDComfort top when riding, so this is not a regular complaint for my riding.
Cuffs - The Klim Latitude has a velcro closure, but a much smaller gusset at the sleeve which makes it more work to get glove gauntlets under the sleeve. The Darien has velcro closure to adjust the size, but a zipper for opening the gusset when putting on or removing the jacket. This is a nice feature that allows you to just zip up, and your sleeve cuff is adjusted exactly how you like it for those gloves every time until you change gloves. I like the velcro/zipper combo much better, along with the larger gusset of the Darien over the Klim's small gusset cuff with only velcro closures.
Over all, both jackets kept/keep me dry and met/meet my needs. I manage temp changes by un-zipping vents or zipping vents closed and using LDComfort evaporative cooling techniques in the high heat. I don't live in high humidity, though have certainly ridden though plenty of it. If I did live in a high humidity area, I would consider a mesh jacket like the MotoPort kevlar as a second jacket.
I'll go back to a Darien when I move on from this Klim. And for pants, Klim was never even on the list. They don't understand how to design pants, at all, and apparently can't take feedback from their customers since despite a large amount of input on the leg zippers, they continue to do it wrong. Similar issue on the cuffs, a lot of people are telling them to improve, but they continue to make them the same way, with small gussets.
Klim makes good gear, just not gear I'll spend a premium on again. From a guy that's been wearing ~$1500-$2k of protective riding apparel every time he rides since 2003 or so, that should tell you something.
